Method to Improve Nucleation of Materials on Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes

ABSTRACT

Techniques for forming a thin coating of a material on a carbon-based material are provided. In one aspect, a method for forming a thin coating on a surface of a carbon-based material is provided. The method includes the following steps. An ultra thin silicon nucleation layer is deposited to a thickness of from about two angstroms to about 10 angstroms on at least a portion of the surface of the carbon-based material to facilitate nucleation of the coating on the surface of the carbon-based material. The thin coating is deposited to a thickness of from about two angstroms to about 100 angstroms over the ultra thin silicon layer to form the thin coating on the surface of the carbon-based material.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT RIGHTS

This invention was made with Government support under Contract numberFA8650-08-C-7838 awarded by (DARPA) Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency. The Government has certain rights in this invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to carbon-based materials, and moreparticularly, to techniques for forming a thin coating of a material,such as a high-k dielectric, on a carbon-based material, such asgraphene.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Graphene, a one carbon atom thick material, has a very high carriermobility, making it suitable for use in high speed, high performanceelectronic devices. Current trends towards feature size scalinggenerally involve use of a high-k dielectric in these scaledgraphene-based devices.

However, nucleation of high-k dielectrics on carbon-based materials suchas graphene is problematic since bonding of the dielectric occurs byelectrostatic forces. Specifically, carbon-based materials withhoneycomb crystalline structures like graphene are chemically inert. Theinertness makes it almost impossible to uniformly coat a thin layer ofany material onto the carbon surface. Deposited material will only formclumps or clusters on the carbon surface rather than a uniform coating.While a uniform coating can eventually be achieved by adding more of thematerial, depositing enough material to gain complete coverage resultsin a layer that is too thick for some applications. This is the casewith thin materials such as high-k dielectrics.

A conventional solution to this problem is to use nitrogen dioxidefunctionality to facilitate the bonding by exposing the carbon-basedmaterial to nitrogen dioxide gas prior to high-k dielectric deposition.This technique, however, shows degraded device performance due to lowelectron mobility. Namely, it has been suggested that a dipole forms atthe interface of the dielectric and the carbon-based material, degradingdevice performance.

Therefore, techniques that improve nucleation of a thin coating ofmaterials, such as high-k dielectrics, on carbon-based materials, suchas graphene, without degrading device performance would be desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides techniques for forming a thin coating ofa material on a carbon-based material. In one aspect of the invention, amethod for forming a thin coating on a surface of a carbon-basedmaterial is provided. The method includes the following steps. An ultrathin silicon nucleation layer is deposited to a thickness of from abouttwo angstroms to about 10 angstroms on at least a portion of the surfaceof the carbon-based material to facilitate nucleation of the coating onthe surface of the carbon-based material. The thin coating is depositedto a thickness of from about two angstroms to about 100 angstroms overthe ultra thin silicon layer to form the thin coating on the surface ofthe carbon-based material.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of fabricating afield-effect transistor (FET) device is provided. The method includesthe following steps. A substrate is provided. A carbon-based material isformed on the substrate. Source and drain region electrodes are formedon a surface of the carbon-based material, spaced apart from one anotherso as to permit a gate electrode to be formed therebetween. An ultrathin silicon nucleation layer is deposited to a thickness of from abouttwo angstroms to about 10 angstroms on at least a portion of the surfaceof the carbon-based material to facilitate nucleation of a dielectriclayer on the surface of the carbon-based material. The dielectric layeris deposited over the ultra thin silicon layer. The gate electrode isformed over the dielectric layer between the source and drain regionelectrodes.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a FET device is provided. TheFET device includes a substrate; a carbon-based material on thesubstrate; source and drain region electrodes on a surface of thecarbon-based material, spaced apart from one another so as to permit agate electrode to be placed therebetween; an ultra thin siliconnucleation layer having a thickness of from about two angstroms to about10 angstroms on at least a portion of the surface of the carbon-basedmaterial to facilitate nucleation of a dielectric layer on the surfaceof the carbon-based material; the dielectric layer over the ultra thinsilicon layer; and the gate electrode over the dielectric layer betweenthe source and drain region electrodes.

A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well asfurther features and advantages of the present invention, will beobtained by reference to the following detailed description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional diagrams illustrating an exemplarymethodology for forming a thin coating on a surface of a carbon-basedmaterial according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating index of refraction n and extinctioncoefficient k as a function of wavelength for ultra thin depositedamorphous silicon according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4-9 are diagrams illustrating an exemplary methodology forfabricating a field-effect transistor (FET) device according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a top-down scanning electron micrograph (SEM) image depictinga graphene flake deposited on a substrate according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 11 is an atomic force microscope (AFM) image of the graphene flakeof FIG. 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a top-down SEM image of source and drain region electrodesformed to the graphene flake of FIG. 10 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 13 is a top-down optical image of the source and drain regionelectrodes of FIG. 12 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 is a graph illustrating current-voltage (I-V) characteristics ofthe device structure of FIGS. 12 and 13 using back gate measurementsaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a graph illustrating experimental ellipsometric spectra ofangle of polarization Ψ collected at 65 degrees and at 75 degreesaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a tilted cross-sectional SEM image of a graphene flake postamorphous silicon/high-k dielectric deposition according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a 90 degree cross-sectional image of a graphene flake postamorphous silicon/high-k dielectric deposition according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a top-down SEM image of a device structure post amorphoussilicon/high-k dielectric deposition and post top gate electrodeformation according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 19 is a graph illustrating current versus top gate voltage for thedevice structure of FIG. 18 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present teachings address the above-described problems associatedwith thin coating chemically inert carbon-based materials. Examples ofcarbon-based materials as they are described herein include, but are notlimited to, graphene, carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers.Advantageously, it has been determined by way of the present teachingsthat an ultra thin silicon nucleation layer on the surface of thecarbon-based material can facilitate nucleation of the coating toachieve complete coverage of the surface, without affecting theelectrical properties of the carbon-based material. By way of exampleonly, FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional diagrams illustrating anexemplary methodology for forming a thin coating on a surface of acarbon-based material. As shown in FIG. 1, an ultra thin siliconnucleation layer 104 is deposited on a surface of carbon-based material102. Silicon layer 104 may or may not be a continuous layer, i.e.,silicon layer 104 does not have to fully cover the surface ofcarbon-based material 102 to serve as a nucleation center for the thincoating.

According to an exemplary embodiment, silicon layer 104 comprisesamorphous silicon. As highlighted above, the purpose of silicon layer104 is to facilitate nucleation of the thin coating on carbon-basedmaterial 102. However, silicon layer 104 should be thin enough so as notto affect the electrical characteristics of the carbon-based material.For example, depositing silicon layer 104 to a thickness of from abouttwo angstroms (Å) to about 10 Å, e.g., from about three Å to about eightÅ, will serve to facilitate nucleation of the thin coating but will notaffect the electrical characteristics of the carbon-based material.

Silicon layer 104 can be deposited on the surface of carbon-basedmaterial 102 by a variety of methods. According to one exemplaryembodiment, silicon layer 104 is deposited on the surface ofcarbon-based material 102 in a vacuum chamber using low pressure (e.g.,about 20 milliTorr (mTorr)), low power (e.g., low power radio frequency(RF) plasma at about 30 milliwatts per square centimeter (mW/cm²))plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) in the presence of agas mixture containing two percent (%) silane diluted in helium, for aduration of about three minutes. The substrate is heated to atemperature T of, e.g., about 350 degrees Celsius (° C.) and is groundedduring the deposition.

The use of a low pressure, low power PECVD process serves to minimizeplasma damage. Such a process has been proven to produce very lowinterface states (D_(it)) on both silicon and gallium arsenidesubstrates. Alternatively, a less intrusive (no plasma) technique may beused to deposit silicon layer 104 on carbon-based material 102. Forexample, according to another exemplary embodiment, silicon layer 104 isdeposited using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or rapid thermal chemicalvapor deposition (RTCVD) (for example, at a temperature of from about450° C. to about 900° C. with silane and/or dichlorosilane as thesilicon source).

Depending on the particular application, it may be desirable to create aneutral charge state in silicon layer 104. For instance, an example willbe presented in detail below wherein the carbon-based material serves asthe body of a transistor device and the silicon layer is used tofacilitate coating a thin gate dielectric, e.g., a high-k dielectric, onthe surface of the carbon-based material. In such a device, performancecan be degraded due to low electron mobility at the interface of thedielectric and the surface of the carbon-based material. To this point,conventional processes use a nitrogen dioxide monolayer to nucleatehigh-k dielectrics on carbon surfaces. However, interface trap chargeshave been observed at the high-k/carbon interface where the nitrogendioxide layer is located. The dipole nature of nitrogen dioxide issuspected to be responsible for the trapped charges.

Advantageously, according to the present teachings, a neutral chargestate can be created in silicon layer 104 to minimize, or eliminate, theproblems associated with interface trap charges, e.g., by eitheroxidation or nitridation of silicon layer 104. This step is optional. Byway of example only, exposing silicon layer 104 to an oxygenenvironment, such as to ambient air will, by way of oxidation, result inthe formation of silicon dioxide a neutral charge molecule.

As shown in FIG. 2, a thin coating 106 is deposited over silicon layer104, e.g., to a thickness of from about two Å to about 100 Å. Thepresent teachings are generally applicable to forming any type of thincoating on the surface of a carbon-based material. By way of exampleonly, the coating can comprise a nitride material, an oxide material, ametal or as highlighted above, a dielectric. According to one exemplaryembodiment, the coating comprises a high-k dielectric, such as aluminumoxide.

Any suitable deposition process may be used to deposit thin coating 106over silicon layer 104. According to an exemplary embodiment, thincoating 106 is deposited over silicon layer 104 using atomic layerdeposition (ALD), for example, in 50 cycles at 250° C. The presence ofsilicon layer 104 facilitates nucleation of thin coating 106, permittingthin coating 106 to form a continuous layer over the surface ofcarbon-based material 102. Without silicon layer 104 as a nucleationcenter, forming a continuous layer of such a thin coating on the surfaceof carbon-based material 102 would not be possible. The above-describedtechniques for forming a carbon-based material/ultra thin siliconnucleation layer/thin coating material can be used to form a coating ona carbon-based material for a variety of different applications. Seeexamples below.

To illustrate the efficacy of the present techniques to produce an ultrathin silicon layer for high-k dielectric nucleation, an ultra thinamorphous silicon layer was deposited on a silicon dioxide layeraccording to the above-described process. Ellipsometric analysis of thesample was then conducted. The results of the analysis are shown in FIG.3. Namely, FIG. 3 is a graph 300 illustrating index of refraction n andextinction coefficient k as a function of wavelength (measured innanometers (nm)) for the deposited amorphous silicon (a-Si). The dottedline in graph 300 is extinction coefficient k, and the solid line isindex of refraction n.

One exemplary implementation of the above-described process involvesforming a thin coating of a dielectric on the carbon-based material of afield-effect transistor (FET) device. FIGS. 4-9 are diagramsillustrating an exemplary methodology for fabricating such a device. Ingeneral, a FET comprises a source region and a drain region connected bya channel, and a gate (separated from the channel by a gate dielectric)which regulates electron flow between the source and drain. As shown inFIG. 4, fabrication of the device begins with a carbon-based material402 being formed (e.g., deposited or grown) on a provided substrate 404.According to an exemplary embodiment, the carbon-based materialcomprises graphene which is deposited on substrate 404 using a standardprocess, such as an exfoliation method as described in K. S. Novoselovet al., “Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films,”Science, vol. 306, pgs. 666-669 (2004), the contents of which areincorporated by reference herein. The carbon-based material can also begrown on substrate 404. Growth of a carbon-based material is described,for example, in C. Berger et al., “Electronic Confinement and Coherencein Patterned Epitaxial Graphene,” Science, vol. 312, pgs. 1191-1196(2006), and in C. Berger et al., “Ultrathin Epitaxial Graphite: 2DElectron Gas Properties and a Route Toward Graphene-basedNanoelectronics,” J. Phys. Chem., vol. 108, no. 52, pgs. 19912-19916(2004), the contents of both of which are incorporated by referenceherein. Carbon-based material 402 effectively serves as the body orchannel of the device.

Any suitable substrate can be used as substrate 404, including, but notlimited to, a bulk silicon wafer. The substrate may, or may not serve aspart of the device. For example, substrate 404 can be a doped siliconsubstrate that serves as a bottom/back gate of the device. In thatinstance, an insulating layer, e.g., a silicon dioxide layer 406, can beformed on substrate 404 (e.g., to a thickness of about 300 nm) prior todeposition of the carbon-based material. Standard techniques may beemployed to form the silicon dioxide layer on the substrate.Carbon-based material 402 would then be formed on insulating layer 406.The insulating layer is however optional, and would not be necessary incases where substrate 404 does not serve as part of the device.

At this point in the process, an analysis of the properties of thecarbon-based material formed may optionally be performed. By way ofexample only, optical, atomic force microscope (AFM) and/or scanningelectron microscope (SEM) analysis of carbon-based material 402 may beconducted, e.g., to determine the thickness of the carbon-based materialsample. Such analysis techniques are known to those of skill in the artand thus are not described further herein. An AFM image of a graphenesample is shown in FIG. 11, described below.

As shown in FIG. 5, source and drain region electrodes, i.e., metalcontacts, 502 and 504 (the source and drain regions of the device) areformed on a surface of carbon-based material 402 opposite substrate 404.Exemplary techniques for forming source and drain region electrodes on acarbon-based material are presented below. As shown in FIG. 5, sourceand drain region electrodes 502 and 504 are spaced apart from oneanother so as to permit a gate electrode to be formed therebetween (seebelow).

At this point in the process, electrical measurements (e.g., electricalcharacteristics and mobility) may optionally be performed to verify thequality of carbon-based material 402. Exemplary results of theseelectrical measurements performed on a sample are shown in FIG. 14,described below.

As shown in FIG. 6, an ultra thin silicon nucleation layer 602 isdeposited over the surface of carbon-based material 402 to facilitatenucleation of a dielectric layer that will be deposited on the surfaceof carbon-based material 402. The use of an ultra thin silicon layer tofacilitate nucleation of a thin coating on the surface of a carbon-basedmaterial, including the composition, thickness and methods fordeposition of the ultra thin silicon nucleation layer were described indetail above. Further, as described above, silicon layer 602 may be acontinuous or discontinuous layer.

In this example, it is desirable to create a neutral charge state insilicon layer 602, so as to avoid trap charges at the interface of thedielectric layer and the carbon-based material, as described above. Aneutral charge state can be created in silicon layer 602 in severaldifferent ways. One way is to oxidize silicon layer 602 by exposingsilicon layer 602 to an oxygen environment, such as to the ambient air,prior to depositing the dielectric layer (i.e., thus creating silicondioxide a neutral charge molecule). If the dielectric layer includes anoxide, such as aluminum oxide, then another way to create a neutralcharge state in silicon layer 602 is to deposit the oxide dielectricin-situ. Namely, as highlighted above, the silicon nucleation layer canbe deposited in a vacuum chamber using low pressure, low power PECVD.The oxide dielectric can then be deposited without breaking the vacuum.The oxide dielectric deposition typically involves oxygen which willthen oxidize silicon layer 602 (again forming silicon dioxide). If thedielectric layer includes a nitride, such as aluminum nitride, then yetanother way to create a neutral charge state in silicon layer 602 isthrough nitridation, e.g., by depositing the nitride dielectric in-situ.Namely, the nitride dielectric deposition will convert the silicon insilicon layer 602 into silicon nitride a neutral charge molecule.

As shown in FIG. 7, a dielectric layer 702 is deposited over siliconlayer 602. According to an exemplary embodiment, dielectric layer 702comprises a high-k dielectric, such as aluminum oxide or aluminumnitride, and is deposited over silicon layer 602 using ALD (as describedabove) to a thickness of from about two Å to about 100 Å. In thisexample, dielectric layer 702 will serve as the gate dielectric. Asshown in FIG. 7, dielectric layer 702 can be etched away locally in thesource and drain regions to expose source and drain region electrodes502 and 504.

At this point in the process, SEM analysis post dielectric depositionmay optionally be conducted. Exemplary results of such an analysisconducted on a sample graphene-based device are shown in FIGS. 16 and17, described below.

A gate electrode, i.e., metal contact, (the gate of the device) is thenformed over dielectric layer 702 between source and drain regionelectrodes 502 and 504, and separated from carbon-based material 402 bydielectric layer 702 (and by silicon layer 602 which is however thinenough so as not to affect the electrical properties of the carbon-basedmaterial). The gate electrode formed can be either a partial gateelectrode or a full gate electrode. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, apartial gate electrode 802 is formed over dielectric layer 702 betweensource and drain region electrodes 502 and 504. The same techniques usedto form the source and drain region electrodes may be used to form apartial gate electrode. As shown in FIG. 9, a full gate electrode 902 isformed over dielectric layer 702 between source and drain regionelectrodes 502 and 504. The same techniques used to form the source anddrain region electrodes may be used to form a full gate electrode.

By way of reference to a non-limiting example, the above-describedtechniques are now used to form a specific type of FET device, i.e., atop and bottom gated FET device. FIG. 10 is a top-down SEM image 1000depicting a graphene flake 1002 which was deposited on a substrate by anexfoliation method. The term “graphene flake” is a common nomenclatureused to describe graphene areas prepared by an exfoliation method.Graphene flakes can consist of many different graphene structures.Thickness (number of layers) and shape of the graphene can varysignificantly across the flake due to the preparation method. An area ofa graphene flake which is suitable for device fabrication consists ofone or two layer thick graphene material and is usually situated nearthe edge of the flake. In FIG. 10, the graphene flake 1002 includes botha long and thin graphene bar-like structure (to which the left arrowpoints) and a large and thick graphene area (to which the right arrowpoints) (i.e., both the long and thin graphene bar-like structure andthe large and thick graphene area belong to the same graphene flake1002). The long and thin graphene bar-like structure portion of theflake was chosen to fabricate the graphene device, as the large andthick graphene area is likely not suitable for device fabrication.

On the other hand, if a graphene layer is formed by an epitaxial growthmethod where graphene thickness and uniformity can be controlled, thenthe device can be fabricated anywhere on the layer. The term grapheneflake is not used to describe a graphene layer prepared by an epitaxialgrowth technique.

In this example, the substrate (subs.) is a doped silicon substratehaving a silicon dioxide (SiO₂) insulator layer 1004 (visible in image1000) on which graphene flake 1002 is deposited. Through doping, thesubstrate is rendered conductive and thus serves as a bottom gateelectrode (also referred to herein as a back gate) of the device.Silicon dioxide layer 1004 has a thickness of about 300 nm.

As highlighted above an analysis of the properties, such as thickness,of the carbon-based material formed may be performed. Accordingly, FIG.11 is an AFM image 1100 of the graphene flake of FIG. 10. The thicknessof the graphene flake was found to be from about two nm to about threenm by AMF analysis. This corresponds to from about one layer to abouttwo layers of graphene taking into account the weak interaction betweenthe silicon dioxide and the graphene.

FIG. 12 is a top-down SEM image 1200 of source and drain regionelectrodes 1202 formed to the graphene flake of FIG. 10 (i.e., thegraphene flake serves as a body/channel of the device). FIG. 13 is atop-down optical image 1300 of source and drain region electrodes 1202.In this example, source and drain region electrodes 1202 are formedusing electron beam (e-beam) lithography with a poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) resist process and contact metal (e.g.,titanium/palladium/gold) evaporation. Specifically, a PMMA resist isdeposited over the graphene flake and patterned using e-beam lithographywith a shape and location of the source and drain region electrodes.E-beam lithography using a PMMA resist is known to those of skill in theart and thus is not described further herein.

Contact metals, e.g., a one nm thick layer of titanium, followed by a 40nm thick layer of palladium, followed by a 20 nm thick layer of gold,are then deposited over the patterned resist using an evaporationprocess at room temperature. The parameters and steps for depositingthese contact metals using an evaporation process are well known tothose of skill in the art and thus are not described further herein.After contacts formation, the remaining PMMA resist is removed by aconventional lift-off process in an 80° C. acetone bath.

As highlighted above, electrical measurements (e.g., electricalcharacteristics and mobility) may be performed to verify the quality ofthe carbon-based material. Accordingly, FIG. 14 is a graph 1400illustrating current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the devicestructure of FIGS. 12 and 13 using back gate measurements (i.e., withthe doped substrate acting as the bottom/back gate electrode). Namely,device current (i.e., the current passing through the graphene flake) asa function of the back gate voltage is measured to extract the mobilityof the graphene channel. In graph 1400, back gate voltage V_(bg)(measured in volts (V)) is plotted on the x-axis and current I (measuredin amps (A)) is plotted on the y-axis. A source-drain voltage V_(ds) of−5 millivolts (mV) was employed in the measurements. As shown in graph1400, the device structure showed good electrical characteristics andmobility of about 1,357 square centimeter per volt second (cm²/Vs).

Once the source and drain region electrodes have been formed, an ultrathin amorphous silicon nucleation layer and a high-k dielectric layerare deposited on the graphene flake according to the processes andparameters set forth in detail above. As presented above, the ultra thinamorphous silicon layer can be deposited in a vacuum chamber using lowpressure, low power PECVD in the presence of a gas mixture containingtwo % silane diluted in helium. In this particular example, prior toamorphous silicon deposition, the vacuum chamber was pumped down to apressure of about 1×10⁻⁶ Ton using a turbo molecular pump. The amorphoussilicon deposition was carried out at a power of seven watts (W) (30mW/cm²), 20×10⁻³ Ton of pressure at a flow of 50 standard cubiccentimeters per minute (sccm) for three minutes. Substrate temperaturewas about 350° C. This amorphous silicon deposition process was found toproduce low interface states on gallium arsenide devices, significantlyimproving electrical characteristics. See, for example, J. P. deSouza etal., “Inversion Mode n-Channel GaAs Field Effect Transistor WithHigh-k/Metal Gate,” Applied Physics Letters, 92, 153508 (2008) and A.Callegari et al., “Properties of SiO₂/Si/GaAs Structures Formed by SolidPhase Epitaxy of Amorphous Silicon on GaAs,” Applied Physics Letters,58, 2540 (1991), the contents of both of which are incorporated byreference herein.

Ellipsometric measurements were performed on a reference sample whichincluded a silicon substrate, a silicon dioxide layer on the substrateand an amorphous silicon layer on the silicon dioxide layer. It wasfound that the amorphous silicon layer was about 0.3 nm thick. FIG. 15is a graph 1500 illustrating experimental ellipsometric spectra of angleof polarization Ψ collected at 65 degrees (dash line) and at 75 degrees(dotted line). In graph 1500, wavelength (measured in nm) is plotted onthe x-axis and Ψ in degrees is plotted on the y-axis. These experimentaldata were compared with the modeled data (solid line) to determine theamorphous silicon layer thickness, the index of refraction n and theextinction coefficient k. Index of refraction n and extinctioncoefficient k of an amorphous silicon layer as a function of wavelengthis shown in FIG. 3, described above.

As highlighted above, SEM analysis post amorphous silicon/high-kdielectric deposition may also be conducted. FIG. 16 is a tiltedcross-sectional SEM image 1600 of a graphene flake, such as the grapheneflake of FIG. 10, post amorphous silicon/high-k dielectric deposition. A90 degree cross-section of the flake in FIG. 16 which highlights theamorphous silicon/high-k dielectric is shown in FIG. 17. Namely, FIG. 17is a 90 degree cross-sectional image 1700 of the graphene flake, such asthe graphene flake of FIG. 10, post amorphous silicon/high-k dielectricdeposition. Images 1600 and 1700 illustrate that the high-k dielectricand the ultra thin silicon layer are present over both the grapheneflake and the silicon dioxide layer of the doped substrate.

Following deposition of the high-k dielectric layer, a gate electrode isthen formed over the high-k dielectric layer between the source anddrain region electrodes. In this particular example, the gate electrodepresently formed is referred to herein as a top gate electrode, so as todifferentiate it from the bottom/back gate (see above). Morespecifically, the top gate electrode is a metal gate defined by alithographic process, whereas the doped silicon substrate serves as thebottom/back gate.

FIG. 18 is a top-down SEM image 1800 of the device structure (e.g., ofFIG. 12) post amorphous silicon/high-k dielectric deposition and posttop gate electrode formation. In image 1800, the source and drain regionelectrodes are labeled “S” and “D,” respectively, and the top gateelectrode is labeled “Gate.” The gate electrode is formed using theprocedures, described above, that were used to form the source and drainregion electrodes. Namely, the top gate electrode is formed using e-beamlithography with a PMMA resist process and contact metal (e.g.,titanium/palladium/gold) evaporation.

Following top gate electrode formation, electrical measurements (e.g.,electrical characteristics and mobility) were again performed to verifythe quality of the carbon-based material. FIG. 19 is a graph 1900illustrating current versus top gate voltage for the device structure ofFIG. 18. In graph 1900, top gate voltage V_(tg) (measured in V) isplotted on the x-axis and source-drain current I_(ds) (measured in A) isplotted on the y-axis. A source-drain voltage V_(ds) of −5 mV wasemployed in the measurements. Device mobility after top gate formationis about 20 cm²/Vs. Mobility degradation is likely to be reduced withadjustments of the silicon layer and ALD deposition conditions.

Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed herein, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes andmodifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departingfrom the scope of the invention.

1. A method for forming a thin coating on a surface of a carbon-basedmaterial, comprising the steps of: depositing an ultra thin siliconnucleation layer to a thickness of from about two angstroms to about 10angstroms on at least a portion of the surface of the carbon-basedmaterial to facilitate nucleation of the coating on the surface of thecarbon-based material; and depositing the thin coating to a thickness offrom about two angstroms to about 100 angstroms over the ultra thinsilicon layer to form the thin coating on the surface of thecarbon-based material.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the coatingcomprises a dielectric layer.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein thecoating comprises a high-k dielectric layer.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the coating is deposited over the ultra thin silicon nucleationlayer using atomic layer deposition.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe carbon-based material comprises one or more of graphene, carbonnanotubes and carbon fibers.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ultrathin silicon nucleation layer is deposited to a thickness of from aboutthree angstroms to about eight angstroms on the at least a portion ofthe surface of the carbon-based material.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the ultra thin silicon nucleation layer comprises amorphoussilicon.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the ultra thin siliconnucleation layer is deposited on the at least a portion of the surfaceof the carbon-based material using plasma-enhanced chemical vapordeposition.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the ultra thin siliconnucleation layer is deposited on the at least a portion of the surfaceof the carbon-nanotube based material using molecular beam epitaxy orrapid thermal chemical vapor deposition.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising the step of: oxidizing the ultra thin siliconnucleation layer before depositing the thin coating.
 11. A method offabricating a field-effect transistor (FET) device comprising the stepsof: providing a substrate; forming a carbon-based material on thesubstrate; forming source and drain region electrodes on a surface ofthe carbon-based material, spaced apart from one another so as to permita gate electrode to be formed therebetween; depositing an ultra thinsilicon nucleation layer to a thickness of from about two angstroms toabout 10 angstroms on at least a portion of the surface of thecarbon-based material to facilitate nucleation of a dielectric layer onthe surface of the carbon-based material; depositing the dielectriclayer over the ultra thin silicon layer; and forming the gate electrodeover the dielectric layer between the source and drain regionelectrodes.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the dielectric layercomprises a high-k dielectric layer.
 13. The method of claim 11, whereinthe carbon-based material comprises one or more of graphene, carbonnanotubes and carbon fibers.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein theultra thin silicon nucleation layer is deposited to a thickness of fromabout three angstroms to about eight angstroms on the at least a portionof the surface of the carbon-based material.
 15. The method of claim 11,wherein the ultra thin silicon nucleation layer comprises amorphoussilicon.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of forming thecarbon-based material on the substrate further comprising the step of:depositing or growing the carbon-based material on the substrate. 17.The method of claim 11, wherein the substrate comprises an insulatorlayer, the method further comprising the step of: forming thecarbon-based material on the insulator layer.
 18. The method of claim11, further comprising the step of: analyzing the carbon-based materialto determine a thickness thereof.
 19. A FET device comprising: asubstrate; a carbon-based material on the substrate; source and drainregion electrodes on a surface of the carbon-based material, spacedapart from one another so as to permit a gate electrode to be placedtherebetween; an ultra thin silicon nucleation layer having a thicknessof from about two angstroms to about 10 angstroms on at least a portionof the surface of the carbon-based material to facilitate nucleation ofa dielectric layer on the surface of the carbon-based material; thedielectric layer over the ultra thin silicon layer; and the gateelectrode over the dielectric layer between the source and drain regionelectrodes.
 20. The FET device of claim 19, wherein the dielectric layercomprises a high-k dielectric layer.
 21. The FET device of claim 19,wherein the carbon-based material comprises one or more of graphene,carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers.
 22. The FET of claim 19, wherein theultra thin silicon nucleation layer comprises amorphous silicon.
 23. Acarbon-based material having thereon an ultra thin silicon nucleationlayer which has thereon a thin high-k dielectric coating prepared by themethod of claim
 1. 24. A material comprising: a carbon-based material;an ultra thin silicon nucleation layer on at least a portion of thesurface of the carbon-based material; and a thin high-k dielectriccoating over the ultra thin silicon nucleation layer.